Compassion Ministry Pulls out all Stops In Thanking Volunteers; Donors

November 20th, 2024

By Barbara Hiura
Thank you!!! Thank you! Thank you to all the volunteers for donating their precious time and energy to support Compassion Ministry programs, from Food Distribution to the St James Park hot meals, Grant family grocery bags, neighborhood food pantry, and Grant school tutoring program and of course all the many donors to this ministry…Thank you. A dinner to thank all volunteers and donors was held on Nov. 9, hosted by Compassion Ministry and led by Misao Kusuda, Cynthia Fukuda, and Lori and Brian Longmire. What a blessing indeed as 50 some givers and service providers ate themselves into toxicity with more than enough scrumptious food. It was, however, a reminder as well, that while we were sated, those who are food insecure are such a large part of who many of us see on a weekly basis and it is they to whom continue to need our care and blessing.
For us…our hosts went all out leaving no stone unturned. There was a mountain of sushi and nigiri as appetizers and after being filled by that delicious treat, dinner was served of chow mien, mapo tofu, shrimp and vegies, orange chicken and egg plant. And then wait for it…to die for some very mouth-watering desserts. (I loved the blueberry topped cheesecake! Yummy!) What a treat and while none of us are looking for “thank yous” because we all serve as a God Calling. We are Jesus’ people after all.
It was a wonderful dinner because we got to meet a lot of people who work in different capacities within Compassion Ministry. Our compliments to our hosts who really went out to make us feel warm and comforted. Terri Koike sewed jar openers for everyone with beautiful Asian designs and every person received a Rosemary plant to grow and provide herbs for our stews. Such a beautiful gesture.
This was a time for sharing and to talk about what Compassion Ministry is all does and the nitty gritty day to day operation of our Food Distribution and our Grant tutoring programs. Words of welcome of course came from our chair and team leader Clarissa Johnston Abril who noted that there are many people involved in these programs as leaders with a number of volunteers to help fulfill the needs of our Food programs and our tutoring program.
We heard from Pat Higuchi who loves tutoring at Grant School and hopes her words inspires others to volunteer. Bev Acuna who also tutors talked about our whole Food Distribution Program, Terri Thornton, Wesley’s office administrator, gave numbers that in just a month we serve 1,107 people. Just multiply that by 12. The Tuesday Food Distribution program operates every week, rain or shine with a number of dedicated volunteers who bag groceries (Barbara Hiura in charge), milk and eggs, and dry goods bags, prepare some 55 hot meals for St. James Park unhoused ministry (addressed by Elaine Hikido) as well as dry bags (led by Roger Miller) filled with chips, fruit, water, easy to open can goods which are all taken to the park.
But how does our food get to our church??? Brian Hamilton presented seven haiku focusing in on not just the delivery, but the work and the need so take heed:
Seven haiku for
Friday food delivery of
Second Harvest truck:
Unlocking bay doors
Checking fridge temperatures
Waiting for the truck
Kelvin sweeps litter
Hector empties water drips
Jim stretches. Waiting
Here comes the big truck!
Alan appears like magic
Time to unload food
Potatoes, onions
Carrots, butternut squash are
All heavy - lift smart!
Jim checks manifest
"Did we get the bags, gloves?"
Yes, they're accounted.
Chicken in freezer
Milk, eggs, veggies in fridges
Cans, boxes on shelves
Tetris in real life
Love, fellowship in real time
Hoping you'll join us!
Thank you, Brian for your poetic expression. We are blessed. We are enriched by everyone who participates in this ministry. We’ve been so thanked and in turn are thankful.